By Miguel Moreira
As expected, Google has announced that as of version 56 of Google Chrome a "Suspicious Site" warning will be displayed on all sites that have password fields or credit cards and that do not have an SSL certificate. That is, any site that does not have the "lock on the URL bar, with its Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) installation. What is this?
When you browse Google Chrome, or another browser such as Firefox, etc., and enter a site, if this site does not have the security certification (SSL) a message will appear as shown in the following figure:
Now this means that, that search engine does not advise the visit of the site, since it does not have a security certificate installed.
HTTP vs HTTPS: what is this?
Each URL (web address) starts with an http or https.
HTTP means hypertext transfer protocol.
HTTPS means hypertext transfer protocol secure.
SSL means Secure Sockets Layer.
When you browse a secure site, incoming and outgoing data is encrypted using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. This makes it very difficult (or impossible) for certain third parties to "capture" their data
Why switch to HTTPS?
Websites that are online without encryption can be hacked or hacked. When a site is secure, visitors know that it is reliable, or at least that they bet on the safety of their users.
In addition, Google likes HTTPS and secure links, and is favoring these secure websites on the search engines, penalizing sites without SSL certificates. That is, in terms of SEO this is quite important.
When an SSL certificate is installed, it enables the HTTPS protocol on your website. When a website is secure and certified, a green lock and HTTPS will appear at the browser address, as described below:
Https secure connection with green lock.
Pages with HTTP protocol that ask users for sensitive data such as passwords or credit cards will be marked as unsafe. Google's long-term goal is to mark all normal HTTP sites as unsafe, favoring those with HTTPS
Advantages of switching to HTTPS
Security - Hackers will not be able to catch sensitive data because SSL blocks attacks. Even if your site does not handle sensitive data such as credit cards, an SSL certificate on your site is always recommended.
Trust/Confidence - SSL shows your visitors that you have decided to go a step further by making your site secure and that you care about your site users.
Rankings - Google's algorithm favors in search results, secure sites that have SSL installation.
Conclusion:
When choosing web hosting, always choose one that provides the possibility of coming with an SSL installation. This will allow your site to be secure with third parties, and also that in the eyes of Google, you are doing everything to make users feel safe browsing and sharing data on your site.